1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates, generally, to oximeter machines and to combination oximeter/EKG machines. More particularly, it relates to a structure and method for preventing oximeter cables from getting into a disorderly condition.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Oximeter cables are lengthy. They extend from an oximeter machine or a combination oximeter/EKG machine to an oximeter finger sensor. A patient inserts a finger into the oximeter finger sensor.
The cables are long because oximeter machines (or combination oximeter/EKG machines) are often used in operating rooms where the machine must be positioned a substantial distance from a patient. As a result, the cables often wind up on the floor, walked upon by the members of a surgical team. The connection between the machine and the cable, at the proximal end of the cable, is easily broken when the cable is pulled. Thus, whenever someone trips over a cable and yanks it from the machine, the connection must be restored. The oximeter cable may also become tangled with other cables attached to other machines, or it may become tangled with itself or other items in the operating room.
What is needed, then, is an apparatus and method for keeping elongate oximeter cables in an untangled, orderly condition during use. A need also exists for an oximeter cable that is not easily separated from an oximeter/EKG machine.
However, in view of the prior art taken as a whole at the time the present invention was made, it was not obvious to those of ordinary skill how the identified needs could be fulfilled.